Inner-tube-core apparatus



April 6 1926.

H. WILLSHAW INNER TUBE CORE APPARATUS Filed March 15 1924 5 Sheets-Sheet 1 ATTORNEY A ril 6 1928.- 1.579,9o2

- H. WILLSHAW INNER TUBE CORE APPARATUS Filed March 15, 1924 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 74 Ii J INVENTOR A TORNEY April 6 1926.

H. WILLSHAW INNER TUBE coma: APPARATUS s Sheet s-Sheet 5 Filed March 15, 1924 INf ENTOR f/fl/OFY W/L 1. SH/l W BY ATT RNEY Patented Apr. 6, 1926.

UNITED STATES 1.519. 02 PATENT- mm.

HARRY WILLSHAW, OF BUFFALO, NEW YORK, ASSIGNOR TO DUNLOP TIRE AND RUR- LBER CORPORATION 01 AMERICA, -01 BUFFALO, NEW YORK, A CORPORATION 01' NEW YORK.

INNER-TUBE-CORE APPARATUS.

Application filed March 15, 1924. Serial No. 699,414.

To all whomc't may concern:

Be it known that I, HARRY WILLsHAw; a subject/of the King of Great Britain, residing in Buffalo, in the county of Erie and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Inner- Tube-Core Apparatus, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to improvements in tire machinery and to im rovements of certain steps in the metho of making inner tubes for tires such as those used for automobiles and similar purposes. The invention will be understood from the following description when read in connection with the accompanying drawings in which:

Fig. 1 is a top plan of an improved apparatus for holding the mandrels or cores on which the tubes are vulcanized;

Fig. 2 is a side elevation of parts shown in Fig. 1 and in addition showing the supply line for supplying the air used for blowing the tubes on and off the cores carried by the machine;

Fig. 3 is an enlarged view showing details of construction, parts being shown in section on the plane indicated by line 33 of Fi 1; Fig. 4 illustrates a number of the tube cores detached from the turret of the blowing on and oil machine and suspended on a carriage which is adapted to be fed to a vulcanizer;

Fig. 5 is an end view of Fig. 4;

Figs. 6 and 7 show steps in the method of stripping a tube from a core;

Figs. 8, 9 and 10 illustrate details of construction.

Referring in detail to the drawings, the pedestal 10 carries a vertically disposed pin 12 forming a central trunnion for the turrot-head 14 which head is provided with a number of raidally extending arms 16, 18, 20, 22 and 24. In the drawings five such arms are shown although in some cases we can use a greater number and in other cases perhaps a smaller number. At the outer end of each of the arms is secured a curved projection or horn 26 which is tapered from the root 28 to the tip 29 so as to permit the easy engagement of the tube cores 30. Each tube core comprises a substantially circular piece of pipe or tubing one end of which is provided with a fitting 32 formed with hookpredetermined relative position thereto w like ends 38 by which the core and its supported tube may be suspended from a bar 4() carried by a carriage 42 as shown in Fig. 5.

The hook ends 38 of the fittings are spaced apart as shown in Figs. 4 and 10 such a dlstance that they prevent the cores and tubes suspended therefrom on the carrlage from striking one another when the carriage is moved, thus reventing damage to the uncured tubes. 'ach horn 26 is secured to or forms art of a tapered member 27 carried by the respective radial arm and each member 27 carries a pin 35 arranged to en age a bayonet slot 36 formed in the end of the cores. The cores may be of different diameters and provided with bushings 37 so that all sizes are interchangeable with the turret arms and all occuplyx a en assembled thereon.

The pedestal 10 carries a bracket 44 in which is slidably mounted a spring pressed locking bolt 46 adapted to engage notches 48 provided in juxtaposition with each of the outwardly extending arms 16 to 24 inclusive. The lower end of the bolt 46 carries a block 50 which is connected by means of a link 52 with a rocker arm 54 carried on a shaft 56 adapted to be operated by the foot treadle 58 so as to release the turret and permit it to be intermittently turned through part of a revolution.

Supported in juxtaposition to the turret and preferably overhead is an air supply' pipe 60 having branches 62 and 64 which are provided with control valves 66 and 68 adapted to be operated by foot treadles 70 and 72 connected by links 74 and 76 which engage arms 78 and 80 carried by the valves 66 and 68 respectively. The valves 66 and 68 control the supply of air or other fluid, to flexible connections 82 and 84 which latter are preferably provided with nozzles 86 and 88 on their free ends. These nozzles are either tapered or cut off at an angle as shown at 90 and 92 to permit them to be readily inserted in the end of any tube which is to be either blown on or blown oil of one'of the cores ormandrels 30 secured to the radial arms carried by the turret.

The cores 30 are of substantially spiral shape in plan so as to permit a straight length of tube to be threaded on the end of the core and workedaround in a circular fashion so as to engage the tube with the core throughout practically the entire length thereof. It will be appreciated that the threading on or applying of a tube of raw rubber to such a corewould be a rather difficult matter if-some special means were not provided for the purpose. My invention aims to provide a method applying the raw tube to such a core and also to provide improved apparatus for carrying out the method, In applying the tube to the core, I first engage the open end of the tube with the free end of the core and then insert a nozzle 86 in the opposite end of the rubber tube and operate the treadle so as to supply air through the valve 66 to the rubber tube. This will slightly inflate the tube the air acting as sort of a lubricant to overcome the friction between the core and the tube and thus permit the operator to easily work the tube onto the mandrel. The air flowing through the tube, as illustrated in the lower left-hand corner of Fig. 1, escapes as indicated by the arrow w from the space between the inner wall of the tube and the outer surface of the core. In some cases I will double back an end of the tube as indicated at 92 so as to prevent the air escaping too rapidly.

Assuming the turret to rotate in the direction of the arrow y, a tube will be applied at a station opposite the arm 16. The turret lock will then be released and the turret moved so as to bring the core with its tube thereon to the station indicated by the arm 24. Then another tube will be applied to the core carried by the arm 18 and a core with the tube thereon will be removed from the arm reaching a station opposite the arm 22. Of course, this exact sequence of operation need not necessarily be followed and is merely described to illustrate one effective way of operating the machine. After each core is removed from the arm on the turret it is preferably hung on a carriage as indicated diagrammatically in Figs. 4 and 5. And when a suflicient number of tubes accumulate the carriage is moved along a suitable track into a vulcanizing apparatus where the tubes are subjected to suitable treatment. The tubes are thus vulcanized on the substantially circular cores and the next step in the method is to remove them from the cores in order to apply the valves and join the ends of the tubes to form the complete vehicle inner tube.

To remove the tubes from the cores I again secure the cores on the radial arms carried by the turret, engaging each core by means of a bayonet joint or its equivalent as above referred to.

The next step in removing the tube is to insert the nozzle 88 between the walls 91 and 93 of the turned back portion 92 of the tube. As shown in Figs. 1 and 6, this turned back or cuff portion is at the end of the core nearest the turret arm and clip 32. The air is turned on by operating the treadle either before onafter the nozzle is inserted. This partially inflates the tube between the double back walls 91 and 93 and the operator strips the tube from the mandrel by turning the tube inside out by working the end 11 along the core in the direction of the arrow 79 in Fig. 7. The air supplied by the nozzle keeps the walls of the tube spaced away during this operation and serves as sort of a lubricant which permits one wall of the rubber tube to be moved relatively to the other without sticking or exerting undue friction.

From the foregoing it will be seen that the raw rubber tubes are vertically blown on the cores carried by the turret and then after.

the tubes have been vulcanized on the substantially circular cores the latter are again supported by the turret whereupon the tubes are blown or stripped from the cores.

While I have shown separate hose connections 82 and 84 for blowing the tubes respectively on and off the cores it will be understood that if desirable I can use the same connection for blowing the tubes on as that used for blowing them off. Also I may rovide one turret which will be used only or blowing the tubes on the cores and other turret for blowing the tubes off the cores. It will be appreciated from the foregoing that the air flowing between the wall of the tube and the surface of the mandrel in eflect acts as a lubricant to overcome friction between the tube and the core and that it also supplies a certain amount of force tending to thread the tube on the core when applying the same. Similarly the air assists when removing the tube by lessening the friction between thev tube walls.

Though I have described with great particularity specific steps in the method and certain details of the apparatus shown it is not to be construed that I am limited thereto as changes may be made by those skilled in the art without departing from the invention as defined in the appended claims.

What I claim is 1. A machine of the class described including a turret having a plurality of cores detachably secured thereto and means for blowing the work on said core.

2. In combination with a core on which a tire tube is adapted to be vulcanized, a turret for rotatably supporting said core and means for partially inflating the tube to permit its free movement relatively to said core to facilitate its engagement and disengagement therewith.

3. A machine of the class described including a turret having a plurality of cores detachably secured thereto and means for partially inflating the work to facilitate its movement relatively to said core. 4. A machine of the class described comprising a fixed pedestal, a turret. rotatably carried thereby, locking means for holding the turret in predetermined positions, a plurality of cores of substantially circular formation detachably secured to said turret and means for applying fluid pressure to the work to facilitate its engagement with or removal from said core.

5. A machine of the class described comprising a fixed pedestal, a turret rotatably carried thereby, cores detachably secured to said turret, an air supply, flexible means connected with said air supply adapted to be engaged with the work to facilitate its engagement with or removal from said core.

6. A tube core having an exterior hooked fitting for suspending said core in a substantially rigid position relatively to a supporting bar.

7. A tube core having a fitting provided with a hooked portion having a Wide beariug surface for suspending the core in a substantially rigid position relatively to a supporting bar.

8. A core supporting bar and a core having a fitting secured thereto formed with hooks spaced apart to give a sufficiently wide bearing to prevent the cores suspended from said bar from swinging and striking adjacent cores so as to prevent damage to the tubes on said cores.

9. In combination with a core on which a tire is adapted to be vulcanized, a turret for rotatably supporting said core, a supporting arm carried by the turret and means for detachably securing said core to the supporting arm.

10. A core on which a tire tube is adapted to be vulcanized, said core being of substantially spiral shape in plan and having both end portions located in substantially the same plane.

In witness whereof, I have hereunto signed my name.

HARRY WILLSHAW. 

